Manufacture of chlorinated derivatives of hydrocarbons



G. T. KOCH. MANUFACTURE 0F CHLORINATED DERVATVES 0F HYDROCARBONS. APPLICATION f lLED MAY f1, 1920.

1,432361; f l Patented oet. 24,1922,

- By @7&7

naar f GEQME-TBYER1XOCE- 0E HMER, 0MM), ASSKGNE T'I-THE 0 FUEL SUPPLY com, on anreisen,

SYLVANXA, A' CGRPO TECN) 0F DEKO.

aaarva'rrves or nrncno'ns. ,l

Application mail may e, 1920. SerialHo. 378,30.

To all 'whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, Gannon citizen of the United States, residin at Homer, in the county'o Licking and tate of Ohio, have invented certain new and use-4 ful Improvements inA the Manufacture of Chlorinated 'Derivatives of H drocarbons; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the'same.` f Y My invention consis in.-l the novel features hereinafter described, reference being `more definite in character and, aniount.

had to the accompanying drawing whichillustrates one form of apparatus-by means of .which my invention may be conveniently` carried into effect, and said invention is fully disclosed in the following description and claims.

The invention relates to the manufacture of chlorinated derivatives of hydrocarbons of the series C., H2M, of paraflin series of hydrocarbons, by treating such hydrocar-A bons with' chlorin in the presence of. a catalyzer or chlorin carrier, in the manner hereinafter described. rlhis invention is particularly valuable in the, treatment ofliquid members of the parain'series with chlorin, and'in the production of mixtures of chlo rinated derivatives therefrom, the chlorination taking place in the liquid phase.

Many attempts have been made to chlo# yria-te these hydrocarbons by mixingtheln withy a'predetermined amount of chlorin in the dark, and then'passingl this mixture of hydrocarbons and chlorini through transparent tubesbefore a mercuryvapor light,

`or other source of. actinic light, and depending upon the actinic value oi the light as a catalyzer, to cause the re-action to take place, with the subsequent formation of chlorhydrocarbons. i'l`h1s method-has been found to proceed more-or less irregularly, and violently, and to result. in the prbducts varying in character and amount.

l" have found that by causing the liquid` j hydrocarbons of theparaiiinseries .to react with chlorin gas under the inuence of actinicprays' and' in the presence of lan absorbent such as silica gel, activated carbon,.. or pumice, in finely divided condition asa..

catalyzer, and passing the hydrocarbon. liquid and chlorin v asf through successive quantitiesl of such faisorbent, .the re-action .employ one or more 'of the following substances, to wit, silica gel, 'which is a hard transparent porous substance of high lustre, being the product obtained when water glass of definite specific gravity is treated with a hydrochloric acid of giveli strength;

the finely divided absorbent with l batchite, which is activated carbon, to Wit anthracite or bituminous coal, which has -been activated by Atreatment with superhe'ated steam toremove the absorbed hydrocarbons; cocoanut charcoal (Dorsite), which is activated carbon, to wit carbonized cocoanut hulls, which have been activated by prolonged treatment with superheated steam; or pumice. stone. All of'these .substances are of aporous structure and possess the property of absorbing large quantities of ases or va rsand acting as a catalyzer 1n the chlorlnation of liquid hydrocarbons.

l prefer to use these porous catalyzing materials or'abmrbents in finely divided form `and to circulate the liquid hydrocarbon with the chlorin through successive masses of the catalyzing material -in the presencey of actinic light rays, before described.

- In the accompanyin drawing I have illustrated diagrammatica ly one form of appa-ql ratus which l have foundeiiicient-and suitable for carrying out my Improved process.

In this drawin chambers, the wal to actinic rays'of light, these chambers consisting preferably of lass tubes ofsuitable length and diameter, tted into heads ror reducers of acid resisting material, indicated at 5l and 6, in which they are firmly held by 1, '2, 3, 4, are're-action' of which are transparent suitable cement, composed for. example, of y lead4 oxide and glycerine. Oneor more of these-re-action chambers may be employed as preferred. They are 'preferably supported vertically and means are provided for circulating the liquid treated verticall from the bottom to the to of the same. o this end where a series o re-action chambers are employed, thel liquid is admitted to the lower.

In eac ofthe re-action chambers I pro? vide means for supporting a mass or plu-.,

rality of separate masses of the adsorbent catalyzing ,materiaL This ma be conveniently accomplished by provi ing each of thetubular chambers with one or more acid resisting mesh trays, indicated at 10, which maybe supported or spaced at suitabledistances apart vertically in any desired way, as b spacers indicated at 11,- which may be int e form of a supporting tripod, for example, or the trays may be held in osition in any other desired way. The a sorbentcatalyzer to be used, indicated at 12, is placed on thesetrays to the' depth of about one quarter to three eighths of aninch, and

is in finely divided condition. I prefer to use i t after passing an 8-2O mesh, or of suicientl large size to allow free passage of the ch orin and liquid hydrocarbons, but

not small enough to pass through the meshes of the trays on-which it rests. I prefer to impregnate the adsorbent or catalyzing material with metal or metal com ounds, prefsalts y sults. o

The liquid hydrocarbon to be treated may erabliickel salts or copper sa ts the nickel ing preferred' as giving the best rebe drawn 'from a suitable receptacle, as 13,

by means, for exam le, of a pum 14, or may' be'otherwise intro ued throu li a pipe 15 into the lower` end of the irst re-action chamber i. Chlorin gas from any suitable sourcewill be supplied to a pipe 16 having branchpi es 17,18, 19, and 20, one of which denser in this instance comprising a coil 3Q, located in a tank 35 provided with a circula; tion of water or other cooling medium through pi 36 and 37, the condenser being preferail connected by a pipe 38 with the tank '13, so that the condensed product may be returned to the special receptacle for .liquid hydrocarbon, :for further treatment. Adjacent to the transparent re-action cham;

-bers I' provide means' for` subjecting the liquid hydrocarbon and gas to the action of actinier rays in conj nction with the use of v the catalyzing material before described, and in the drawing I have indicated suitable electric lamps at 41 and 42', 43 and 44, which may be mercury 'vapor lamps, or other means for producing actinic li ht rays. U

In' carrying out my improve process with this type ofapparatus the liquid paraiin hydrocarbon to be treated is forced from the tank 13 by the pump 14, or otherwise, into the lirst.' re-action chamber, and chlorin gas is supped to the nozzles at the lower ends of al o the re-action chambersv The liquid hydrocarbon and chlorin gas pass upwardly in the first re-action chambr through successive massesy of nely divided adsorbent or porous catalyzing material, and in the resence of -theI actinic light rays, if the amps are employed.- The liquid hydrocarbon, when it reaches the top of one re-actionhchamber, passes to the bottom of the next re-action chamber in which it rises in the same manner through successive masses of the adsorbents or c atalyzing material described, andV so on, the liquid being circulated vertically throu h the yseries of reaction cham'bers, ming 'ng with the chlorin gas and passing through the Isuccessive spaced masses of adsorbent or `oatalyziiig material. ,'Any vapors evolved are drawn olf from the upper end ofeachv re-action chamber and assto the condenser c il'30, the liquid being returned to -the t nk 13 for further treatment and being re-circulated through the system. After passing through all of the re-action chambers, the

liquid leavingl the last re-action chamber,

leadstot e bottom of each of the reaction/passes through the pipe 25 to the storage .chambers within which it is provided with a discharge nozzlefthenozzles being indicated be desirable to `recirculate the liquid hydrocarbon, the receptacle 26 may be conveniently f connected with the receptacle 13 by means of a pipe 27, in' which is located a circulat-'- ing pump'28.v The upper end of each of theA re-action chambers is provided with a vapor escape pipe, which pipes are indicated at 31, 32, 33, and 34, and are connected to a common vapor line or pipe 29 leading to a conre-circulating the liquid through the pipe' 27 to thev ipe 13 andpassing it any desired number o times through the `system of reaction chambers employed.

Ithas been' found that the adsorbentsilica gel, batchite, cocoanut charcoal, pumice stone, or other` similar solid substance of gas, in the presence o that variations may porous structure, impregnated withl metals or metallic compounds, 1s not altered during the course of the re-action, its function belng purely that of a catalyzer and chlorin carrler, and the material may be used for long periods of time Without change o'r renewal if kept free from moisture. 4While l have found the type of apparatus herein shown and described advantageous for carrying my invention into eiect, l wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the use of this s ecific apparatus, and

3. The herein described continuous method of chlorinating liquid paraiiin hydrocarbons, which consists in con/tinuously introducing liquid hydrocarbon and chlorin gas,

into a closed receptacle, and causing them to pass through finely divided activated carbon, continuously draining od the chlorinated liquid, and continuously withdrawing the resultin vapors.

4. The herein escrlbed continuous method of chlorinating liquid paraiiin hydrocarbons, which`- consists in continuously introducing liquid hydrocarbon and chlorin gas, into a closed receptacle, and causing them .to

made therein, withass through finely divided activated can on, continuously draining od. the chlorinated liquid, and 'continuously withdraw? ing the'resultln vapors, and recirculating the chlorinated lquid with additional quanvtities of chlorin gas through the finely divided activated carbon.

5. The herein described continuous method of chlorinating liquid paraiiin hydrocarbons, which consists in continuously introducing liquid hydrocarbon and chlorin gas, into a closed receptacle, and causin passthrough finely divided activated carbon, continuously draining off the chlorinated liquid, and continuously withdrawing the resulting vapors, condensing. the resulting vapors, addin the condensed -liquid to the chlorinated liquid and recirculating the resulting liquid with additional quantities of chlorin gas through the finely divided activated carbon.

6. The herein described method of chlorinating liquid paran hydrocarbons, which -consists in treating a liquid paraffin hydro` carbon, in the liquid hase, with chlorin gas, in the presence o finely divided activated carbon impregnated with nickel.

7. The herein described method of chlorinatin'g liquid parafin2 hydrocarbons which consists in .treating a lliquid aran hydrocarbon with chlorin gas, in t e presence of a porous nely divided catalyzing material impregnated with nickel.

8. The herein described method of chlothem to rinating liquid paranhydrocarbons, which consists in treating a liquid arafiin hydrocarbon with chlorln gas in t e presence of finely divided batchite impregnated with nickel.

lin testimony whereof' ax my signature.

GEURGE TROYER KOCH. 

